The company stressed that the device was not meant to compete with existing in-car infotainment systems. The company said it was inspired to create the audio hardware because many people listen to Spotify while driving.

The device uses voice recognition - users can say “Hey Spotify” to enable commands - and features a dial so users can play, select and browse through Spotify’s offerings. The device requires users to have a paid Spotify premium membership and a smartphone with WiFi or mobile data capabilities. “Car Thing has one job and does it awesomely,” the company says on its website introducing the new gadget. Many cars can access Spotify through Android Auto, Apple CarPlay or built-in apps - Car Thing was mainly helpful for people with older vehicles who wanted a music streaming upgrade, but didn't want to mount their phone.Spotify says that the Car Thing is “its own thing,” designed to shift usage away from cell phones for music, news and podcast streaming. It was effectively a Spotify player for cars that didn't have streaming functionality, and served as an informative experiment for the company. Spotify first shared word of Car Thing in 2019, but the finished product only reached the broader public early this year following several months of invitation-only sales. You can still buy the Car Thing for $50 (down from the usual $90) as of this writing.

The company said it still 'unlocked helpful learnings' from the device despite its brief history, and that the car remained an 'important place' for audio. The withdrawal hurt Spotify's gross profits.Įxisting Car Thing units will still work as expected, Spotify said. In a statement to Engadget, a company spokesperson pinned the decision on 'several factors' that included customer demand and supply chain problems. As part of its earnings data, the streaming service revealed that it stopped manufacturing its Car Thing player. Spotify's less-than-stellar quarter can be partly blamed on a decision to exit the hardware business.

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